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TWO IDEAS ADVANCED TO KEEP<br />
INDUSTRY ARBITRATION ALIVE<br />
One Is Appeal to Company<br />
Presidents; Other Seeks<br />
Test Without AlHed<br />
By J.<br />
M. JERAXJLD<br />
NEW YORK—How to save the arbitration<br />
plan was a topic of general discussion in the<br />
industry during the week.<br />
PRINCIPAL SUGGESTIONS<br />
The two principal suggestions advanced<br />
were:<br />
1. Invite Allied leaders—and possibly<br />
others— to a conference of company<br />
presidents at the Motion Picture Ass'n<br />
for a frank exchange of opinions on<br />
whether the areas in dispute can be<br />
narrowed enough to bring about an 18-<br />
month trial of arbitration.<br />
2. Go ahead in a test of arbitration<br />
by the Theatre Owners of America, Independent<br />
Theatre Owners Ass'n of New<br />
York, the Metropolitan Motion Picture<br />
Theatre Owners Ass'n, and the Western<br />
Theatres Ass'n group, if they can be induced<br />
to act.<br />
The second suggestion was taken up<br />
Wednesday (26) at a New York conference of<br />
Alfred Starr, president of TOA; Mitchell<br />
Wolfson, past president, and Herman Levy,<br />
general counsel. S. H. Fabian, another<br />
member of the TOA group designated last<br />
spring to handle arbitration negotiations,<br />
was not in town and took no part in the<br />
discussions.<br />
In the meantime, it was pointed out, few<br />
exhibitors at large and not many of the<br />
leaders in any of the exhibitor organizations<br />
who have been asked to approve arbitration<br />
know what it contains.<br />
Some 200 or more copies have been circulated<br />
for study by industry lawyers and<br />
heads of regional groups. How many exhibitors<br />
have studied these in detail is not<br />
known, but it is pretty generally agreed the<br />
number is limited.<br />
The original agreement before the start<br />
of negotiations last April was that the draft<br />
would be kept confidential until released<br />
by unanimous consent. How to get that<br />
unanimous consent now seems to mystify<br />
everyone.<br />
ANALYSIS BY MYERS<br />
The closest approach to a detailed analysis<br />
came from Abram F. Myers who presented<br />
the principal outlines with his comments in<br />
printed form to the Allied convention in<br />
Chicago. The pamphlet covered 25 pages.<br />
The theory of those who favor a conference<br />
with company presidents is that if a<br />
small group can sit down and explain without<br />
emotion and histrionics what brought<br />
about the present impasse an agreement<br />
could be brought nearer. In other words,<br />
the perspective of the negotiators might be<br />
widened by a statement of policy.<br />
At the pre.sent time TOA men feel that<br />
the remaining areas of disagreement In the<br />
plan can be cleared up by further talks.<br />
TOA Says It Is Ready<br />
To Meet Distributors<br />
NEW YORK — Theatre Owners of<br />
America members are ready to go into a<br />
conference with MPAA members whenever<br />
Eric Johnston decides to call one.<br />
Johnston has been scheduled to return<br />
from South America December 1.<br />
Alfred Starr and Mitchell Wolfson<br />
made it plain at a press conference held<br />
Wednesday (26) that TOA has been in<br />
agreement with Allied all the way through<br />
the negotiation for an arbitration system,<br />
includnig the request that film rentals be<br />
included in the arbitration framework.<br />
TOA still would like to have rentals included<br />
on the arbitration plan. This oneway<br />
basis provides that only exhibitors<br />
can apply for arbitration.<br />
If an agreement can't be reached on<br />
film rentals, Starr a-nd Wolfson both said<br />
that they did not think this would justify<br />
rejection of the entire plan.<br />
Starr was emphatic in saying that without<br />
arbitration the plight of the exhibitor<br />
would "steadily worsen" and might eventually<br />
lead to the appointment of some<br />
kind of a government commission to take<br />
over regulation of both film rentals and<br />
admission prices. Wolfson agreed and also<br />
Some Allied men, on the other hand, have<br />
become convinced that a few of the sales<br />
managers don't want arbitration and that<br />
some company lawyers have dragged out the<br />
negotiations by adding complicated legal<br />
verbage that should be eliminated in order<br />
to make it possible to hear an arbitration<br />
proceeding without the presence of lawyers.<br />
Much of the hostility in Allied ranks dates<br />
back to the addition made to the August 20<br />
version of the plan just before the start of<br />
the TOA convention in Washington.<br />
Proponents of a conference with company<br />
presidents say that some of these emotional<br />
attitudes could be put to one side if the<br />
company presidents would give informal assurances<br />
that they really want a plan<br />
adopted and some indication of how far<br />
they are willing to go in settling the few<br />
remaining problems in dispute—competitive<br />
bidding, advanced admissions, and rentals.<br />
Allied shied away from the whole -system<br />
because of these thi'ee points. Myers contended<br />
that as the plan finally emerged in<br />
Washington distributors could call for bids,<br />
reject all of them and then sell a picture<br />
to all-comers. He insisted tliat after all<br />
bids had been rejected the subsequent offers<br />
should be limited to the original bidders.<br />
Cleaiances are closely allied to competitive<br />
bidding, because runs are a part of bidding,<br />
but substantial agreement had been reached<br />
on three kinds of clearances as well as runs.<br />
commented that he had found many<br />
exhibitors did not think it would be possible<br />
to arbitrate all film rentals." What<br />
TOA may want, he said, is arbitration of<br />
specific rentals where injustices can be<br />
proven.<br />
Levy said that so far as he knew film<br />
rentals could not form the basis of court<br />
action unless the exhibitor could prove<br />
that there had been a conspiracy or some<br />
violation of law on the part of the distributors.<br />
All three pointed out that approvals of<br />
arbitration by seven TOA regional units<br />
had been approval of the general principles,<br />
subject to the reservation that<br />
there should be further negotiations on<br />
the plan presented by distributor attorneys<br />
at Washington during the TOA convention.<br />
Wolfson also pointed out that there has<br />
been no negotiation on the final distributor<br />
draft to which Allied objected and he<br />
said he hoped all the exhibitor units<br />
would accept Johnston's invitation for<br />
further talks and that the conference<br />
would be held soon.<br />
Bids would be revealed to unsuccessful<br />
bidders under the plan.<br />
Even the sore topic of advanced admissions<br />
for pre-releases had been negotiated<br />
to the point where distributors were willing<br />
to limit these to two per company per year,<br />
but tills ran into a definite snag in Chicago.<br />
Some Allied men contended that if court approval<br />
were given for this there would be no<br />
way to handle the advanced admission thing<br />
in the future. Under the antitrust decrees<br />
distributors can't fix admission prices in<br />
contracts, but they have been doing it with<br />
the consent of exhibitors through a variety<br />
of expedients, including informal memorandums<br />
on separate sheets of paper.<br />
How to handle this problem is still something<br />
requiring negotiation.<br />
All during the negotiations distributors<br />
refusted flatly to arbitrate film rentals.<br />
Even this formidable roadblock misht be<br />
detoured, say some of those willing to comment<br />
informally, by rephrasing it to make<br />
it appear like relief in distress cases.<br />
Some conferences between company lawyers<br />
have already taken place since the Allied<br />
refusal to go along with the present<br />
plan, but more definite moves are expected<br />
to follow the return of Eric Johnston, MPAA<br />
president, from South America in a few days.<br />
The mid-winter meeting of the Allied<br />
board is scheduled for January 12 iu New<br />
Orleans.<br />
8 BOXOFFICE November 29, 1952 (
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